The Book of Czestochowa edited by M. Szucman (and a committee)

    This is another yizkor book made up of a compilation of individual survivors' recollections of their time in Czestochowa before and after the war. I found it thanks to the World Society of Czestochowa Jews, which maintains incredible resources on the Jewish community that existed there. A concept that this book introduced me to, although I haven't confirmed it's truth, is that Czestochowa was the "last remaining large Jewish community in Poland." Natan Eck, who wrote one of the longer chapters in the book, recalls saying that to other Jews after a meeting of the Judenrat to discuss the possibility of mass exterminations, in which most couldn't believe what was going on. In a similar vein regarding the uniqueness of Czestochowa, Aron Gelbard recalls that proportionately, more people from Czestochowa transports survived than from other cities, due to a high requirement of laborers.

    The strength of the book is obviously its personal stories. Szlojme Waga, who wrote another yizkor book, tells the story of a local man whose daughter had married a German and lived in Berlin. That daughter had written a letter home to her parents in Czestochowa advising them to commit suicide and naming the drugs they should take. The letter was warped from her tears, and she described how committing suicide would ensure that they would have graves for some survivor to visit after the war. Apparently the letter was shared widely and contributed to a sense of panic in the ghetto. In another story recounted by Szlojme Waga, he met the former city Chazan (cantor), who bitterly told him, "I have become a bachelor," because his wife and seven children were all deported. His beard was shaved off and he was thin. He suddenly straightened up and his face reddened, and he yelled, "The murderers! They've made me young! Turned me into a bachelor! Annihilated my seven children! Murdered my wife!" The same Aron Gelbard above recalled how he worked at Treblinka for 19 days, and in that time, would help throw naked people into piles of baggage, and then secretly pull them out later and give them clothes to escape. Unfortunately, some of the people they threw in didn't understand what they meant by doing so, and jumped back up and continued running.

    I always hope to find some mention of my family in these yizkor books, but nothing found in this one. What is interesting is the addresses. Like ul. Nadrzeczna 71, the home of the kibbutz that resisted the Nazis (although I also see reference to a kibbutz at Garncarska 72). At ul. Nadrzeczna 66, there was another house of resistance, known as the "66 Group." In December 1942, Mojtek Ziberberg started to try to unify these groups into one resistance. He would be killed in the uprising and ghetto liquidation on June 25th, 1943. I think I will try to put together a little map of the relevant addresses of the resistance.